It is essential to include email marketing campaigns into your marketing strategy no matter what type of business you have or what industry you are in. Digital marketers often have a misconception that email marketing is dead, but that is not the case.
If you are unable to make any profit or revenue through email marketing, then there is a chance you are making some email marketing mistakes. It is understandable that your marketing strategy is planned according to your business goals and audience and can be quite challenging to change that. But there is good news, you do not have to change the whole marketing strategy, you only need to make a few adjustments with your approach so that your business goals are reached effectively.
Email marketing has the potential to achieve an ROI of 4300% if you follow the best practices and tips. So, it is now clear that email marketing is one of the most important marketing tools that should not be avoided by any online brand.
If you are already into email marketing and making a decent success, you will still be able to make most of the following guide. You might not even realize you are making mistakes that are restraining your ROI.
The following tips will help you understand the email marketing mistakes.
Table of Content
Starting Email Marketing Late
Be it online or offline marketing, timing is everything. But you can’t be too early or too late to start email marketing. It is important to understand your targeted audience and their personas. Sending emails without knowing the above details can make you lose your audience. Personalization is the key to a successful email marketing strategy. Lacking the understanding and knowledge about the audience can give you a hard time to create personalized content.
Sending emails too late can also have its drawbacks. Remember a truly interested customer will be waiting for an immediate email from your side after they make a purchase or subscribe to your website.
The ideal time to start email marketing is after your analysis and evaluate customer behavior. For that, there are many tools available online. You can always start with an effective email automation strategy. If you have just started online marketing and thinking of getting into email marketing, it can be very hectic initially, and understanding how email marketing works is very important. But, starting email marketing is also equally important to establish a successful online presence.
Failing to Test & Improve
No matter how long you have been into online marketing and how expert you are, it is essential to always research and test your email marketing strategy. If you are new to email marketing then you should definitely start with generic forms and surveys on your website but, don’t just leave them there and forget about it. Try running some A/B tests. This will help you to concentrate more on the areas with the most significant impact. There are various tools online that will help you run the A/B test, MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, HelloBar, and OptinMonster being the top ones. By working on these tools, you will be able to build and test different types of wordings used, forms, and locations to identify what works for you the best.
Email Automation:
Buying Email Lists
No matter how much time you think you are saving buying an email list sounds like it’s a very bad idea moreover, it is illegal too. It will be considered against the CAN-SPAM act for email marketing compliance. Sending emails to the bought email list can lead to spamming. Well, nobody wants to get an email from someone they did not subscribe to.
Buying an email list can potentially harm your brand image. And there is a possibility that your email service provider can ban you permanently from sending emails further.
Most importantly, you are literally wasting money by buying a fake email list. A fake email list is not going to increase your open rate, response rate, conversation rate, or even ROI in any way.
Inconsistency
On one hand, where a group of people is receiving unexpected emails that leave them surprised, on the other hand, there is a genuine group of people who have subscribed to you and are looking forward to your emails. In this case, inconsistency can leave a huge negative impact on your business. There is a way out of it and that is by setting a schedule. There are several tools available online including Sender, SendInBlue , and Omnisend that will help you create, optimize, and execute email campaigns according to your preferred time, location, and date. The Editorial Calendar is another great tool to help you to keep your email campaigns on track.
Sending inconsistent emails can make you lose your subscribers lose interest and eventually they will unsubscribe.
Using Non-Responsive Email
Increasing the response rate is every email marketer’s dream. In a world full of different devices and options, it is important to hit the mark with a responsive email design. You need to make sure your emails are responsive as well as mobile-friendly. Most people will open emails on their mobile phones and therefore it is important to optimize your email campaigns by using a mobile-first approach.
Lastly, test your email campaigns with Litmus before sending them. This will help you understand how your email will look on different devices and platforms.
Not Having Clear Call To Actions
Your emails must have a purpose and a proper CTA. Email without a CTA is just about providing information and not expecting any response in return. Including CTAs in your emails is like virtually guiding your audience in taking the next required steps. Ut, too many CTAs can also be overwhelming and can leave your reader confused and this will end up hurting the conversion rate.
Having clear CTAs is very vital. The CTA you include should be related to the content of your email. For example, If you have realized a product. The CTA should be “buy now” if your email is about hosting an event, your CTA should be “sign up”.
Conclusion
The misconception of email marketing is dead is absurd. Email marketing is thriving and very alive. Every digital marketer should make email marketing a priority in their online business.
Many people who have started email marketing are most probably doing it wrong. Making mistakes is fine but make sure you are learning about the mistakes and making timely updates to your marketing strategy. This guide might have made you realize a few of your mistakes and they are fairly easy to correct.
If you want to know more about email marketing, tips, and tricks, do contact us.